DRDO rejig likely on lines of global labs

By

Pankaj Mishra

, ET Bureau|

Mar 11, 2009, 02.15 AM IST

BANGALORE: India will attempt to transform its Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) over the next three years by consolidating around 50 research labs into fewer centres and moving towards more collaborative development with private sector companies. The aim is to model DRDO on the lines of globally successful defence labs in countries like France, US, Britain and Israel.

���The government has given in-principle approval to form an implementation committee for restructuring DRDO based on the Rama Rao committee���s recommendations,��� a defence ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

The implementation committee being constituted by the government will try and transform DRDO into a leaner organisation, and also consolidates its labs���numbering over 50 at present���to 7-8 centres focusing on broader segments of aeronautics, combat systems, naval systems, weapons systems and electronic warfare. Almost 20% of DRDO���s projects have budgets of over Rs 100 crore each.

���The proposal also includes a hike in budgetary allocation for DRDO, up to 6-10% of the defence budget,��� the person added. The organisation now accounts for around 5% of the defence budget, estimated to be over Rs 6,000 crore every year. ���Given that India has to import over Rs 40,000 crore worth of defence equipment every year, the scope for domestic research and production is huge,��� a DRDO official said on conditions of anonymity.

The DRDO review committee, which submitted its report last year, was formed by the ministry of defence for evolving India���s premier defence labs into a more efficient organisation, following delays in various projects for serving critical needs of the armed forces. Former science and technology secretary P Rama Rao headed the review committee, which blamed inadequate project planning for time and cost overruns of DRDO projects.

With around $23.4-billion military spend in 2007, India is ranked 10th by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in terms of defence expenditure. This year, the country is expected to spend over $30 billion in procuring latest equipment and systems for modernising its armed forces.

DRDO officials did not respond to an email query sent by ET last week. ET could not independently verify if the government has accepted all recommendations proposed by the review committee.

���There is surely a need to involve private sector more, and get people with newer ideas,��� said Institute of Defence Scientists and Technologists chairman and former DRDO director K Ramchand. ���We also need greater user involvement while developing some of these systems,��� he added.

However, a senior defence official told ET on conditions of anonymity that DRDO���s problems need to be addressed through internal restructuring, more than anything else. ���Private sector collaboration is fine, but what we need is more accountability, and even closer participation of the armed forces,��� he said on Tuesday.

Several defence experts and this review committee have questioned DRDO���s ability to deliver critical projects in the recent past including the light combat aircraft (LCA), Arjun tanks, Akash surface-to-air missile and the Kaveri engine.

���The LCA project has been one of the big setbacks for the Indian Air Force. DRDO should bite what it can chew, without being over-enthusiastic,��� observed a person familiar with the defence projects.

Governments across the globe have established successful private sector defence collaborations. For example, the Executive Intelligence Alliance Policy and Strategy (EIAPS) Charter forms the basis of engagement of government agencies and private partners in the UK. Experts such as TR Madan Mohan of consulting firm Browne and Mohan say there is a compelling need for DRDO to benchmark with the global best in order to become more efficient by establishing joint proof of concept centres (POC).

���Since multiple groups are involved in a POC, preliminary design and final design development and review, the bugs gets eliminated and probability of detecting failures in the early stage of design is increased,��� Mr Mohan said. ���Also, multiple parties, including private institutions and individuals, are able to bring in their expertise to the project.���

Meanwhile, an official said a public-private partnership model in India���s defence sector has been languishing because of political interferences.